Pope John Paul II set a seemingly unbeatable record for creating popes. He created 483 new saints – more than all popes put together over the last 500 years (here). But now Pope Francis is giving him a run for his money. This is great PR. While it is surprisingly expensive (roughly $250,000 per saint- see How Saints are Made), these popes think it is a good investment – a form of brand advertising. The Associated Press (here) notes that nearly all of these 35 were martyrs. They overlooked or ignored the fact that nearly all were from Latin America, a stronghold of Catholicism which the faithful have been abandoning in droves. At the same time, Pope Francis announced a special synod on "the state of evangelization in ... South America" (here). This was not a mere coincidence.